DURHAM – First, Jamison Crowder leaped high into the air to catch the touchdown pass that made the impossible possible. Seconds later, the sophomore wide receiver led a charge of his Blue Devils teammates across the field at Wallace Wade Stadium to retrieve the Victory Bell for the first time in nine years.

Yes, this really is a different Duke football team.

In years past, the Blue Devils would never have recovered after having their hearts ripped out the way their was Saturday, when arch-rival North Carolina roared from behind in the fourth quarter to seemingly steal away a victory they had worked so hard to achieve.

This time, however, it was Duke that performed a little thievery of its own while ending nearly a decade of frustration against the Tar Heels as well as the nation’s longest postseason drought.

Crowder’s acrobatic catch in the end zone on a five-yard pass from quarterback Sean Renfree with 13 seconds remaining put the finishing touches on an 87-yard drive that gave the Blue Devils a stunning 33-30 win and possession of the Victory Bell for the first time since 2003.

This was also the first time Duke had beaten UNC at home since 1998.

“I promise you, it doesn’t get any sweeter,” Renfree said. “To go down and win like that, get bowl eligible, beat Carolina … we accomplished so much tonight. I’m so proud to be on this team.”

The Blue Devils’ landmark victory seemed almost inevitable for most of the night, as they ripped through the Tar Heels for a season-high 234 rushing yards and a 20-9 lead after three quarters. But like last week’s loss at Virginia Tech, in which Duke squandered a 20-0 lead, the celebration among the sellout crowd of 33,941 nearly ended before it ever had a chance to begin.

In Blacksburg, the Blue Devils’ players got caught taking a peek ahead with visions of bowl games and division championships dancing in their heads after getting off to their fast start. And it ended up costing them dearly, as the Hokies roared back to score the game’s final 41 points.

This time it was coach David Cutcliffe – who you’d think would know better – that let himself get carried away by the moment.

Instead of playing it safe and punting the ball away on a fourth-and-one play from midfield, the Blue Devils’ coach talked himself into attempting a fake punt during the break between the third and fourth quarters.

“I felt on the hook the whole time after that, not because (the fake punt) didn’t work. It really just wasn’t the right time to do it,” Cutcliffe said after the game, still sticky from a postgame cocktail of Gatorade and spray paint. “We had seen something on tape we felt was going to give us an opportunity to do that and in the name of being aggressive, we tried it. But it wasn’t the thing to do.”

That became immediately evident when defensive back Walt Canty was stopped for a one-yard loss. The mistake was compounded a few plays later when UNC quarterback Bryn Renner hit Eric Ebron for a 34-yard gain that literally doubled Renner’s passing total for the game.

That set up a short Giovani Bernard touchdown run that did much more than just cut the Tar Heels’ deficit to a single score. It also presented UNC with the momentum that had been on the Blue Devils’ side since the opening kickoff.

At that point, you could almost see what was coming next.

Sure enough, the Tar Heels scored twice more to take the lead for the first time with 3:12 remaining. What made things all the more painful is that the go-ahead score came on a whacky play that saw UNC receiver Erik Highsmith fumble the ball at the Duke 22, only to have Bernard pick it up and run into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

But the Blue Devils weren’t fazed.

Before sending his team back out onto the field for the decisive final drive, Cutcliffe told his offensive line that UNC “blew it.”

“They left too much time on the clock,” the coach said. “I told them this is one you’ll always remember.”

Chances are, no one will remember it more than Crowder.

“There wasn’t a chance in this world I was going to drop that ball,” he said. “I was going to hold onto it like it was my baby. That’s something you always dream about, scoring a touchdown on the last play. That’s a dream come true.”